Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to improving searching and/or organizing electronic data in a data processing system or web site.
Discussion of Related Art
Traditional file systems, including both UNIX and WINDOWS, have one hierarchical method of file organization, herein referred to as a traditional or first hierarchical file structure, which is tree structured with directories and sub-directories. A typical user may have a large set of files (say 100,000), and the structured tree file organization can be several levels in height. The primary characteristics of the file systems are: 1) a file is accessed by a unique address known as the file path; and 2) file organizing is by using server names, directories, subdirectories, and/or filenames with an extension.
This single method of organizing data leads to considerable inefficiencies in accessing files. Searching is effective when the user knows a partial filename and/or the file path or directory under which the file is stored. Often a user must go through a number of files before locating a set of relevant files, and must open a number of directory/subdirectory folders to access the files. Further the current hierarchical organizing technique does not allow the users to easily describe or annotate a file.
To improve the search, current file systems use a variety of techniques. As an example, Mac OS uses a SPOTLIGHT feature that indexes files on your computer in the background based upon keywords. When a user makes a change, such as adding a new file, receiving an email, or entering a new contact, SPOTLIGHT updates its index automatically, with the intention of keeping search results accurate. Embedding keywords into files is a common technique for providing a search facility to the user. Keywords are generally indexed in a database that is used to answer user queries.
There is a need for an improved method for organizing and searching files or other data on a computer or web site, as well as organizing the search results.